Chapter 423
Brought Back To The Tribe
Shao Xuan observed . Although the duck was still guarded and cautious around him, if there was anything dangerous around it, the duck would immediately run towards him, screaming .
Should he really bring it back to the tribe? Or just cook it?
Shao Xuan thought about it . This duck was special . If they could really tame it, it was not a problem to rear it in the tribe . However, Shao Xuan studied its tail feathers . It was probably a male . If he brought it back, it could not lay eggs . Should he eat it? There were no female ducks in the tribe .
After thinking about it, Shao Xuan decided to leave it alone for the moment . If the duck managed to follow him back to the tribe, then they’ll just rear it there . It will be an experiment to rear it as poultry .
Shao Xuan set off once again after resting a few days at Gongjia Heng’s place .
This time, he did not take the path through the water-covered swamp area . He went around it, taking the longer route instead . He wanted to fill out his map after checking the area .
The duck followed . It had gotten used to him . Since Shao Xuan hadn’t eaten or beaten it during this period of time, even helping it a few times, it followed him even closer .
Shao Xuan became more relaxed when he saw the familiar patch of forest . He moved faster too .
There was a movement in the forest . Shao Xuan heard conversations . There were hunters from the tribe out hunting .
Whoosh!
An arrow flew from among the trees, flying straight at the fat duck behind it . It was unfortunate that it was such an obvious target in the forest . When it flew, it was basically a living target . It could get by if hunters did not want such a small game but if any hunter decided they wanted the duck, this duck would never survive . Plus after travelling for such a long time, it had grown weaker and not as agile as before . It was going to be difficult for it to dodge an arrow .
When Shao Xuan sensed the arrow, he blocked it with his sword . He hit the arrow sideways .
“Who is it?!” There was a shout among the trees and several people rushed over .
It was Tao Zheng, Zhui and the rest . This was the area their hunting party frequented . When someone had knocked their arrow away, the first thing they thought was that someone from another tribe must have trespassed their hunting grounds .
However, when they saw Shao Xuan, their guarded looks faded immediately .
“Shao Xuan!”
“Elder!”
“You’re back?!”
Shao Xuan had left the tribe for a period of time, apparently for something important . Some people knew the reason, some did not . All they knew was that ever since he left, the chief had been very worried . Every time they went out hunting, the chief would remind them to be careful and alert . If anyone saw Shao Xuan, they had to inform him immediately .
“Should I return to inform the chief?” asked TaoZheng .
Shao Xuan waved it off . “No, I can go back on my own . You all carry on with your hunt . ”
“Elder Shao Xuan, what’s that behind you? You hunted it?” asked a young member of the party . He had been the one who shot the arrow . Now he was very embarrassed, it felt like he had taken the Elder’s game .
Shao Xuan looked at the fat duck resting on the tree nearby and turned to Tao Zheng and the rest . “Kind of . ”
He was carrying a huge bundle wrapped in animal hide and vines . Everyone eyed it curiously .
“What’s inside?” asked Tao Zheng excitedly .
“Gold wares,” said Shao Xuan .
When they heard him, everyone was curious but it was not the time to chat . All they could do was suppress their curiosity and continue with their hunt .
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After bidding them farewell, Shao Xuan hunted two more animals and then returned to the tribe .
In the tribe, when the shamaness and Chief Zheng Luo heard of Shao Xuan’s return, they came down the hill to personally greet him .
“Eh? The bird…” yelled someone at the manmade river surrounding the village . He pointed at the bird resting on the tree opposite the river .
The fat duck studied everyone from the Flaming Horn tribe, alert .
“About the bird, if it did not deliberately attack anyone or bring any trouble to the tribe, just ignore it,” said Shao Xuan to the people around the river .
So it was Shao Xuan’s duck! Everyone at the foot of the hill nodded solemnly, promising not to kill it .
Shao Xuan wanted to explain but the shamaness had dragged him up the hill like she had many questions for him . Shao Xuan did not elaborate, planning to return once he was done .
He went up the hill, tossed the prey at his doorstep . A few people resting in the area volunteered to help him clean the prey since he was busy . After thanking them, he went to the shamaness and explained what happened to her and the chief .
When they heard him say that non-Gongjia people could not enter Gongjia Mountain, they sighed in pity . However, their eyes brightened when he took out the animal skin scrolls with stuff he had copied down .
Zheng Luo pulled out a piece of animal skin hurriedly and copied down the key points . He could not wait to bring it to the tribe’s blacksmith . Zheng Luo was as interested in forging and casting as their blacksmith . However, they were still not as good in forging because any tribe with a little more information refused to share their techniques .
Shao Xuan’s notes were straightforward and helped answer questions that plagued the chief . Although it wasn’t like a shower of milk to his head, it was still a huge inspiration .
[Note: A shower of milk to the head (idiom) = enlightenment/a gush of wisdom; I kept this in because I loved this expression]
“Take a look at these . Anything that’s rusty or broken can be re-casted . ” Shao Xuan took out the stuff he took from the robbers and gave them to Zheng Luo .
These weapons varied in quality . Some good ones could be used immediately while the rest had to be fixed .
Zheng Luo rubbed his palms, picked up the stuff and left in a hurry .
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Only Shao Xuan and the shamaness were left in the house . Shao Xuan told her about activating the bone ornaments .
“Great! That’s great news!” The shamaness smiled so hard her wrinkles deepened . “If you’re alright, you can proceed . I’ll clear a spot in the village for you to practice . It’s better to practice here than in the forest, plus you won’t have to worry about threats around you . ”
Shao Xuan stayed for a bit then returned to his house .
When he arrived, his two games had already been cleaned . Qi Qi had been waiting at his doorstep for a while .
When he saw her struggle to hide her grin, Shao Xuan knew the Thousand Grain Gold must be doing well .
“Elder Shao Xuan, you’re back! The Thousand Grain Gold are doing very well, come look at them!” Qi Qi brought him to the backyard excitedly .
When he had passed by his house, he had noticed his backyard had been expanded . The fence around the backyard was built taller too so he could not see inside .
Now that he was back home, he walked into the backyard to see three-meter tall plants . Shao Xuan stopped in shock .
When he had seen the plant on that hill, it was not like that . It wasn’t this tall .
There were about forty plants left in his yard when he left . At that time, they were barely at his shoulder . Now, although there were only twenty-three of them left, all of them were growing very well . They weren’t just taller than humans, every leaf was wider and thicker than he remembered! And their stalks were almost as thick as a person’s waist .
Most importantly, there were grains growing on the plants too!
Even an idiot would know that these plants were growing a lot healthier than the wild ones! They just didn’t know what would happen to the grains after harvest . If they were valuable, he would plant the rest of his grains .
In the yard, there were both Flaming Horn and Taihe tribe members . They surrounded the plants, never growing tired of staring at the twenty plants every day . They used to visit twice a day but now, they even slept in this yard . The yard was expanded partially for this reason .
“Everyone wanted to watch over the plants but there was limited space in the yard so the shamaness told us to expand it . ” Qi Qi looked at his face timidly . When she realised he was not mad, the weight on her shoulders lifted .
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“Thank you for your hard work!” said Shao Xuan .
“It’s nothing at all, it’s all worth it!” Qi Qi had a sense of pride and accomplishment as she looked at her plants .
Since he was back at the tribe, he could finally relax and that night, he slept soundly .
During the next few days, Shao Xuan was summoned by Zheng Luo to talk about crafting . His position was not even needed here-- Shao Xuan met a Xia and went to Gongjia Mountain . Naturally, the blacksmiths here were all willing to listen . They asked him questions when they did not understand the notes . Shao Xuan also briefed everyone about the development of the core seed and the Xia people so everyone had an understanding of it .
A few days had passed when he went down the hill again .
On this day, he planned to check on the duck .
Everyone who lived at the bottom of the hill plus the ones on patrol all knew of it . The fat duck bobbing its head left and right, fluttering here and there was Elder Shao Xuan’s prey . No one dared touch it, some even voluntarily tossed some food at it .
On the first day, the fat duck, being in a new environment, was flighty . It was always worried, flying off whenever there was a slight movement . Then, it realised these people meant no harm, it even received food from them . Although it did not like the food, it still thought it was a good thing .
On the second day, the fat duck attempted to swim in the water . It swam around in the manmade river surrounding the Flaming Horn tribe . However, every time someone passed by, it would immediately fly away into the forest, only returning when there was no one .
The third day, fourth day passed…
When Shao Xuan arrived, the fat duck was swimming happily along the river, sometimes even diving into the water . When someone approached, it merely looked cautiously at the person but did not fly immediately .
Looks like this duck isn’t leaving .
Since it was living well, Shao Xuan did not chase it away . He just told someone to watch it and make sure it did not cause trouble .
Until one day, Shao Xuan noticed there were several female ducks in the river .
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